What Is Abusive Head Trauma?

Abusive head trauma (AHT) is an injury to a child's brain as a result of child
abuse.

It can be caused by direct blows to the head, dropping or throwing a child, or
shaking a child. AHT is also called shaken baby syndrome (or SBS), inflicted traumatic
brain injury, and shaken impact syndrome.

Head trauma is the leading cause of death in child abuse cases in the United States.
Because the anatomy of infants puts them at particular risk for injury from this kind
of action, the majority of victims are infants younger than 1 year old.

AHT can happen in children up to 5 years old, but the average age of victims is
between 3 and 8 months. The highest rate of cases is among infants just 6 to 8 weeks
old, which is when babies tend to cry the most.

How Do Head Trauma Injuries Happen?

These injuries happen when someone (most often a parent or other caregiver) vigorously
shakes a child or strikes the child's head against a surface. In many cases, the
caregiver can't get the baby to stop crying and out of frustration or anger shakes
the baby. Unfortunately, the shaking may have the desired effect: The baby cries more
at first, but may stop crying as the brain is damaged.

When someone forcefully shakes a baby, the child's
head rotates uncontrollably. This is because infants' neck muscles aren't well developed
and provide little support for their heads. This violent movement pitches the baby's
brain back and forth within the skull, sometimes rupturing blood vessels and nerves
throughout the brain and tearing the brain tissue. The brain may strike the inside
of the skull, causing bruising and bleeding to the brain.

The damage can be even greater when a shaking episode ends with an impact (hitting
a wall or a crib mattress, for example), because the forces of acceleration and deceleration
associated with an impact are so strong. After the shaking, swelling in the brain
can cause enormous pressure within the skull, compressing blood vessels and increasing
overall injury to the brain's delicate structure.

Normal interaction with a child, like bouncing the baby on a knee or tossing the
baby up in the air, will not cause these injuries. But it's
important to never shake a baby under any circumstances.

What Can Happen to a Baby With Head Trauma?

AHT often causes irreversible damage, and about 1 in every 4 cases results in the
baby's death.

Even babies who look normal immediately after the shaking might eventually develop
one or more of these problems. Sometimes the first sign of a problem isn't noticed
until the child enters the school system and has behavioral or learning problems. But by that time, it's harder to link these problems to a shaking
incident from several years before.

What Are the Signs of
Head Trauma?

In any abusive head trauma case, the duration and force of the shaking, the number
of episodes, and whether impact is involved all affect the severity of the child's
injuries.

In the most violent cases, children may arrive at the emergency room unconscious,
suffering seizures, or in shock. But in many cases, infants may never be
brought to medical attention if they don't show such severe signs of injury.

How Is AHT Diagnosed?

Many cases of AHT are brought in for medical care as "silent injuries." In other
words, parents or caregivers often won't say that the child has a shaking injury,
so doctors don't know to look for subtle or physical signs. This can sometimes result
in children having injuries that aren't identified.

In many cases, babies who don't have severe signs may never be brought
to a doctor. Less severe signs such as vomiting or irritability may go away on their
own and can have many non-abuse-related causes.

Unfortunately, unless a doctor has reason to suspect child abuse, mild cases (in
which a baby seems lethargic, fussy, or perhaps isn't feeding well) are often misdiagnosed
as a viral illness or colic. Without a suspicion of child abuse and any resulting
intervention with the parents or caregivers, these children may be shaken again, worsening
any brain injury or damage.

If shaken baby syndrome is suspected, doctors may look for:

hemorrhages in the retinas of the eyes

skull fractures

swelling of the brain

subdural hematomas (blood collections pressing on the surface of the brain)

What Are the Long-Term Effects of AHT?

What makes AHT so devastating is that it often involves a total brain injury. For
example, a child whose vision is severely impaired won't be able to learn through
observation, which decreases the child's overall ability to learn.

The development of language, vision, balance, and motor coordination are particularly
likely to be affected in any child who has AHT. Such impairment can require intensive
physical therapy and occupational
therapy to help the child acquire skills that otherwise would have developed normally.

Before age 3, a child can receive free speech
or physical therapy through state-run early intervention programs. Federal law requires
that each state provide these services for children who have developmental disabilities
as a result of being abused. After a child turns 3, it's the school district's responsibility
to provide any needed special educational services.

As kids get older, they may need special education and continued therapy to help
with language development and daily living skills, like dressing.

What
Are the Risk Factors for AHT?

Children with special needs, multiple siblings, or conditions
like colic or GERD are
at higher risk for AHT. Boys are more likely to be victims of AHT than girls, and
children of families who live at or below the poverty level are at an increased risk
for these injuries and other types of child abuse.

The perpetrators in about 70% of cases are males —
usually either the baby's father or the mother's boyfriend, often someone in his early
twenties. But anyone has the potential to shake a baby if he or she isn't able to
handle stressful situations well, has poor impulse control, or has a tendency toward
aggressive behavior. Substance abuse often plays a role in AHT.

How Can AHT Be Prevented?

Abusive head trauma is 100% preventable. A key aspect of prevention is
increasing awareness of the potential dangers of shaking.

Finding ways to ease a parent or caregiver's stress at the critical moments when
a baby is crying can greatly reduce the risk to a child. Some hospital-based programs
help new parents learn about and prevent shaking injuries and understand how to respond
when infants cry.

All Babies Cry is a national program that promotes infant soothing
and ways to manage the stress of parenting. The program is divided into four parts:
1. What's normal about crying? 2. Comforting your baby. 3. Self-care tips for parents.
4. Colic and how to cope.

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome offers a prevention program, the Period
of Purple Crying, which can help parents and other caregivers understand
crying in healthy infants and how to handle it.

Another method that can help is the"five S's" approach, which
stands for:

Shushing (by using "white noise" or rhythmic sounds that mimic
the constant whir of noise in the womb. Vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, clothes dryers,
a running tub, or a white noise machine can all create this effect.)

Side/stomach positioning (placing the baby on
the left side — to help with digestion — or on the belly while holding
him or her. Babies should always be placed on their
backs to sleep.)

Sucking (letting the baby breastfeed or bottle-feed, or giving
the baby a pacifier or finger to suck on).

Swaddling (wrapping the baby in a blanket like a "burrrito" to
help him or her feel more secure. Hips and knees should be slightly bent and
turned out).

Swinging gently (rocking in a chair, using an infant swing, or
taking a car ride to help duplicate the constant motion the baby felt in the womb).

If a baby in your care won't stop crying, you can also try the following:

Make sure the baby's basic needs are met (for example, he or she isn't hungry
and doesn't need to be changed).

Check for signs of illness, like fever or swollen gums.

Rock or walk with the baby.

Sing or talk to the baby.

Offer the baby a pacifier or a noisy toy.

Take the baby for a ride in a stroller or strapped into a child safety seat in
the car.

Hold the baby close against your body and breathe calmly and slowly.

Give the baby a warm bath.

Pat or rub the baby's back.

Call a friend or relative for support or to take care of the baby while you take
a break.

If nothing else works, put the baby on his or her back in the crib, close the
door, and check on the baby in 10 minutes.

Call your doctor if nothing seems to be helping the baby, in case there is a medical
reason for the fussiness.

To prevent AHT, parents and caregivers of infants need to learn how to respond
to their own stress. It's important to tell anyone caring for a baby to never
shake the infant. Talk about the dangers of shaking and how it can be prevented.